The 158th Aviation Regiment was constituted in the Army as Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 158th Aviation Battalion on 25 July 1968 at Fort Carson, Colorado and was assigned to the 101st Airborne Division. The unit moved to Vietnam where it saw vigorous action participating in nine major campaigns including: Counteroffensive, Phase V; Counteroffensive, Phase VI; Tet 69 / Counteroffensive, S
ummer-Fall 1969; Winter-Spring 1970; Sanctuary Counteroffensive; Counteroffensive, Phase VII; Consolidation I; and Consolidation II. Post Vietnam, the unit returned to Fort Campbell, Kentucky and was relieved from assignment to the 101st Airborne Division. Headquarters Company, 158th Aviation Battalion, nicknamed the “Fighting Knights”, re-organized on 18 September 1987 at Giebelstadt Army Airfield (GAAF) in Giebelstadt, Germany and was designated as Headquarters and Headquarters Company 5th Battalion 158th Aviation Regiment. The line company elements of the Battalion, A/5-158th and E/5-158th, were located at Wiesbaden Air Base in Wiesbaden, Germany, while B/5-158th (UH-1H), C/5-158th and D/5-158th (OH-58 A/C, later OH-58D) were located at Maurice Rose Army Heliport vicinity Frankfurt, Germany. A fixed wing detachment (U-21 and C-12) assigned to 5-158th was also located at Wiesbaden Air Base. B/5-158th was reactivated as a UH-60 Company on 16 October 1998 in Aviano, Italy. The activation of C/5-158th at Wiesbaden Army Airfield on 15 September 2000 completed the Army’s Doctrinal Template of the Mission Ready Battalion. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, the various units which comprise the 5th Battalion 158th Aviation Regiment participated in the Beirut Air Bridge, OPERATION DESERT SHIELD (Saudi Arabia), OPERATION DESERT STORM (Iraq), OPERATION PROVIDE COMFORT (Turkey / Iraq), OPERATION RESTORE HOPE (Somalia) and OPERATIONS JOINT ENDEAVOR, JOINT GUARD and JOINT FORGE in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. In April 1999, the unit departed Giebelstadt Army Airfield to serve with Task Force Hawk and Falcon as part of OPERATION ALLIED FORCE. On 30 June 2000, 5-158th was re-organized to split out the two H-series Companies (C/5-158th and D/5-158th) and create a new Air Assault Battalion, 3-158th Regiment. At the same time, A, C and E companies were relocated to Giebelstadt Army Air Field and the companies changed to HHC, A, B and E Companies. In 2002-2004, the battalion participated in OPERATION ENDURING FREEDOM and OPERATION IRAQI FREEDOM. Primarily stationed in Balad, Iraq, the battalion completed diverse missions ranging from deliberate Personnel Recovery to direct support to the V Corps, CJTF-7 and Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) command groups. The battalion returned to Germany in February/March 2004. Approximately a year later, 11 February 2005, 5-158th Aviation Regiment was reassigned from 12th Aviation Brigade and assigned to the 4th Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division. In the summer of 2006, as part of Army Aviation Transformation, 2-1 Aviation Regiment, F/159th Aviation Regiment, 45th Medical Company, and B/3-58th Aviation Regiment came together under the colors of 5-158th Aviation Regiment in Katterbach, Germany. In August 2006, B/5-158th deployed to Cyprus in support of Joint Task Force Lebanon. C/5-158th deployed to Al Asad in support of MNF-West and OPERATION IRAQI FREEDOM 06-08. The remainder of 5-158th Aviation Regiment deployed in July 2007 in support of OPERATION IRAQI FREEDOM 07-09. C/5-158th deployed to two theaters in June 2009 in support of OIF 9-11 and OEF 10-11. The remainder of the Battalion deployed in December 2009 in support of OEF 10-11, with F/5-158 detached for the first 5 months in support of OIF 9-11. By April 2010, 5-158th was reunited when F/5-158th was re-missioned to Western Afghanistan to join TF Ready which then consisted of eight companies: HHC, A/5. A/2-159, B/5, C/5 (who were replaced by F/2-135 in May 2010), D/5, E/5 and F/5 and were known as Task Force Ready. C/5-158th redeployed in June 2010, and the remainder of the Task Force began its phased reployment in August 2010, with the final Task Force Ready Soldier redeploying in December 2010.
